Author(s)

Jianjing Wang ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ School of Foreign Languages, China West Normal University, Nanchong, China

Corresponding Author

Jianjing Wang

ABSTRACT

Pre-service EFL teacher education often prioritizes "linguistic competence" at the expense of teachers' moral and social development. Responding to China's advocacy for the "Educator Spirit", this action research investigates its integration into the curriculum through a one-semester study with 60 pre-service teachers. A redesigned course operationalized the spirit into four dimensions: Ethical-Caring, Critical-Reflective, Socio-Cultural, and Identity. Data from teaching philosophies, lesson plans, reflective journals, and interviews revealed that a "value reconstruction" approach successfully shifted participants' focus from language instruction to holistic education. However, integration was uneven: internalization was strong in the Ethical-Caring and Socio-Cultural dimensions but markedly weaker in Critical Reflection. This process was characterized by identity tension, which reflective practice helped negotiate, leading to the development of "micro-practices." The study concludes that cultivating the Educator Spirit is a complex, differentiated process. It offers a dynamic internalization model and practical implications for designing value-embedded curricula, highlighting the need for targeted support to foster critical reflection.

KEYWORDS

Educator Spirit; EFL Teacher Education; Teacher Identity; Value Reconstruction

CITE THIS PAPER

Jianjing Wang. Beyond Linguistic Competence: Integrating the 'Educator Spirit' into a Pre-service EFL Teacher Curriculum. Curriculum and Teaching Methodology (2026). Vol. 9, No.2, 140-152. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/curtm.2026.090218.

REFERENCES

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[3] Feng Gang (2024). The Contemporary Characteristics and Cultivation Pathways of Educator Spirit. People's Forum, (20):14-17.
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[5] Noddings, N. (1984). Caring: A feminine approach to ethics and moral education. University of California Press.
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[8] Beauchamp, C., & Thomas, L. (2009). Understanding teacher identity: An overview of issues in the literature and implications for teacher education. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(2), 175-189.
[9] Kemmis, S., McTaggart, R., & Nixon, R. (2014). The action research planner: Doing critical participatory action research. Springer.
[10] Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.

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